A flurry of new gubernatorial ads began hitting Tennessee's airwaves this week, with U.S. Rep. Diane Black and Knoxville entrepreneur Randy Boyd — both of whom are seeking the Republican nomination — trading barbs on everything from immigration and support for the president to guns.

Days after Black attacked him as a moderate, Boyd released a series of new ads, including one referring to the congressman as "D.C. Diane."

The ad features video of Katie Couric asking four congressmen, including Black, about then-candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the southern border of the United States and making Mexico pay for it.

After some laughter, the ad captures Black saying, “First of all you can’t build a wall. That won’t work."

A narrator calls Black “D.C. Diane, a typical 20-year career politician who says one thing in Tennessee but does another in D.C.”

The ad points to Black’s vote on an appropriations bill to say the congressman voted against funding border security and her vote while in the state legislature that made it easier for immigrants who entered the country illegally to get driver’s licenses.

Black's votes on such issues were the subject of attacks in a separate TV ad paid for by a third-party political action committee, which supports Boyd.

Black responded to those claims, releasing an ad this week that features a Putnam County sheriff who says before Sept. 11, 2001, law enforcement asked lawmakers to regulate all drivers on the road, including citizens and non-citizens.

"Diane listened to law enforcement," says Sheriff Eddie Farris, adding that Black later led an effort to change the 2001 law.

Boyd's latest ad also says Black voted to give former President Barack Obama a “blank check for amnesty,” citing a 2014 bill in Congress that appears to be related to budget appropriations.

The ad, dubbed "The Real D.C. Diane," was paid for by Boyd's campaign.

Speaking to a group of college Republicans in April, Boyd said he was "not for negative ads."

"Randy is running a positive campaign and sharing his vision for Tennessee as a conservative businessman with a strong track record on key issues — but when falsely attacked, we will always defend ourselves," Boyd campaign spokeswoman Laine Arnold said Friday.

In a separate ad, which began airing on television this week and dubbed "False Attacks," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee defends Boyd.

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Gov. Mike Huckabee defends Randy Boyd.
Nashville Tennessean

"Professional politicians and special interests falsely attack their opponents so they can try to hang on to power," said Huckabee, who last week endorsed Boyd.

Huckabee notes in the ad that Boyd voted for Trump in the 2016 election, attended his inauguration and continues to support the president's agenda to "keep America safe and disrupt government as usual."

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Mike Huckabee speaks during a news conference for his upcoming television show on TBN at the station’s Hendersonville campus Oct. 2, 2017.(Photo: Alan Poizner / For the Tennessean)

"Heck, I ran against President Trump in the primary, but we all moved forward to defeat Hillary Clinton and make America great again," Huckabee says.

Responding to the latest ads, Chris Hartline, a spokesman for Black's campaign, called Boyd and fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee "moderates" who were left with no other option but to attack Black, whom he called the true conservative, with lies.

In a separate new ad, Boyd recruits his cousin, Fred Boyd — the owner of a gun store — to talk about the Knoxville entrepreneur's support of the Second Amendment.